


and so it ends (and so it begins, our eternity)

by EllaYuki



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst and Feels, Happy Ending, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:48:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27647743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllaYuki/pseuds/EllaYuki
Summary: “Dean,” Jack says, and Cas’ entire being just stills. “I thought it would take him longer to get to Heaven.”And that’s.No.After Dean dies and reaches Heaven, it takes Castiel a while to go to him.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 96





	and so it ends (and so it begins, our eternity)

“I thought it would take longer.”

Castiel looks at Jack, his son, his new God, and tilts his head in confusion. “Jack?” He hasn't felt anything particularly strange or different, so of course, he wonders what this might be about.

It takes a second, but Jack’s gaze loses its unfocused shine, and when he looks at Castiel, the serenity that’s been gracing his face until now is marred slightly by a small frown. “Dean,” he says, and Cas’ entire being just stills. “I thought it would take him longer to get to Heaven.”

And that’s.  _ No _ . 

No, that can’t be right. Time flows differently up here in Heaven, true, but by his calculations, it can’t have been more than a fortnight on Earth since the Winchesters (and yes, he means Jack, too) defeated Chuck. 

_ How is Dean already- _

He takes a breath (unnecessary though it is), and tries to steady himself. “Are you sure?” He knows it’s a stupid thing to ask, but… Maybe...

Jack just raises an eyebrow at him, head tilting in a ‘really?’ kind of way. “Will you go to him? He’s at… the Roadhouse. Harvelle’s?” 

Castiel looks in the direction he knows the Roadhouse is in this new version of Heaven. He thinks about it, being there, welcoming Dean to a peaceful eternity. 

He can’t. 

He  _ wants to. _

But he can’t. 

(Part of it is because he’s a little bit mad at Dean, because he’d have thought that, after everything, Dean would’ve learned to appreciate life, especially one free of Chuck’s influence. He’d have thought that Dean would… maybe, if not settle down, at least slow down, take less risks, live out his life of freedom. 

The other part of him is just scared. He can’t face Dean yet, for all that he’s at peace with his confession.)

He tells Jack, “I will. Eventually.” Because he knows his son, and he knows that he would worry. “I’ll let him settle down first.”

There’s a long pause. Jack just looks at him, Castiel can feel it, but he keeps his eyes in the general direction of Ellen and Jo’s Roadhouse. “If you’re sure.”

~

Castiel doesn’t go to Dean. Not for a long while. Not even after he hears about Sam arriving at long last. 

He wants to. He does. 

But a part of him, small and irrational, but  _ there  _ and  _ loud _ , is terrified of what that meeting would be like. 

He knows Dean cares about him. Even in his darkest, most depressed moments, even during those days when everything pointed to the opposite, he knew Dean cared for him, in his own, Dean way, that he saw Cas as his best friend.

But Cas went and changed things the day he made that one, final sacrifice, and for once, he doesn’t know where that leaves him and Dean. He’s not in any hurry to go and get himself politely, if awkwardly, rejected.

It can wait. He can wait. 

There a whole eternity of time.

~

_ ‘Hey, I know you’re out there, somewhere,’  _ comes one day, words wrapped in a particular brand of longing that he’d never thought he’d sense again. Castiel closes his eyes and focuses all his senses.  _ Dean _ .

_ ‘I know Jack got you out of the Empty. So get your ass over here already, man. How long are you gonna make me wait?’  _

Castiel tries to ignore it, the siren call of Dean’s soul, of his prayer. He tells himself that  _ not yet _ , he still has things to do, tasks Jack gave him to complete. He can’t go to Dean yet. 

_ ‘Please, Cas.’ _

But,  _ ah. _ When has Castiel ever been able to deny Dean Winchester anything? 

So he spreads his wings. 

~

Dean’s soul is as blinding as the first time Castiel ever laid eyes on it. It dazzles, even now, how bright and inherently  _ good _ it is.

“Hello, Dean,” Castiel says as he lands behind him, and his voice cracks traitorously with emotion. 

Dean turns, and for a second, for a millenia, they just stand there, next to the Impala, and look at each other in silence. Castiel wonders at the green of Dean's eyes, at the myriad of freckles on his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, at the perfect bow of his lips. 

It's Dean who breaks the silence first. It's dawn, and they're at the edge of a quiet lake, and it feels like the air itself is holding its breath. "Hey, Cas. Took you long enough."

Castiel lowers his gaze, looks away minutely. "I didn't know-" he starts.

Dean cuts him off. "Yeah well, you're an idiot." And then he wraps Castiel in his arms. "How many times do I gotta say it, man? How many times do I have to ask you to not do that again before it sticks in your damn, thick skull?"

"Dean-" Castiel tries. 

But Dean won't let him get another word in. "You don't just tell a guy you love him and then get dead, Cas. That's…" There's a hiccup, and the arms around Castiel tighten. Cas buries his face into Dean's shoulder. 

"I'm sorry."

Dean pulls back, looks him in the eyes. "Don't be sorry. Just be  _ here _ . With me. Don't-" He stops. Wets his lower lip. Takes a deep breath. "Don't leave again." It’s not the answer Castiel thought he would get. It leaves him shivering with happiness.

Castiel didn't think he could cry anymore. "Alright, Dean." Apparently, he was wrong. "Alright. I'll never leave again."

~

"But really, Dean, you survive leviathans, and archangels, and  _ Chuck himself, _ and die because of a vampire and a piece of rebar?"

"Aw, come on, Cas, don't you start, too. I've been getting this crap from everyone already."

"Yes, well. I think you deserve it. Because it  _ was  _ ridiculous."

"Eh, what can I say. I'm unpredictable like that."

"Yes. You are, indeed."


End file.
